Uplink and downlink streaming bitrate assistance in 5G networks

Abstract

Various embodiments may provide streaming service downlink network assistance and / or uplink network assistance mechanisms in a fifth generation (5G) system (5GS) network via an application function (AF) computing device in the 5GS. In some embodiments, a computing device and / or an AF computing device may notify the network of capacity requirements for downlink or uplink services. Various embodiments may include sending a radio access network (RAN) capacity request to a network computing device of a 5GS network including a 5G RAN. In some embodiments, the network computing device of the 5GS network may be a computing device that is not part of the 5G RAN. In some embodiments, a capacity requirement message may be sent directly from a user equipment (UE) computing device to a computing device of the 5G RAN. In some embodiments, the capacity information of the RAN may be passed to the AF computing device via an intermediate network function.

Description

[0001] Related Applications

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 916,451, filed on October 17, 2019, entitled “Uplink and Downlink Streaming Bit Rate Assistance In 4G and 5G Networks,” the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. Background Art

[0003] Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5G New Radio (NR), and other recently developed communications technologies allow wireless devices to transmit information at data rates that are orders of magnitude higher (e.g., measured in gigabits per second, etc.) than were available just a few years ago.

[0004] Today's communications networks are also more secure, resilient to multipath fading, allow for lower latency for network traffic, and provide better communications efficiency (e.g., in terms of bits per second per unit of bandwidth used). These and other recent improvements have facilitated the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), massive machine-to-machine (M2M) communication systems, autonomous vehicles, and other technologies that rely on consistent and secure communications. Summary of the invention

[0005] Various aspects of the present disclosure include methods, systems, and devices for providing streaming service assistance in a fifth generation (5G) system (5GS) network. Various aspects may provide downlink (DL) network assistance (DNA) and / or uplink (UL) network assistance (UNA) mechanisms via an application function (AF) executed in an AF network computing device in a 5GS network. Various aspects may enable reporting of instantaneous and dynamically changing radio access network (RAN) capacity and / or resource status to enable the AF to respond to an upgrade request from a user equipment (UE) computing device providing streaming services. In some aspects, a service-based interface (SBI) or reference point may be established between the AF and the RAN so that the RAN may provide notification of real-time capacity or excess capacity information of one or more packet flows or quality of service (QoS) flows of the AF session to which a protocol data unit (PDU) session is bound to the AF network computing device. In some aspects, the real-time capacity or excess capacity information of the RAN may be delivered to the AF network computing device via an intermediate network function (NF), such as an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), etc. In some aspects, the UE computing device and / or the AF may inform the RAN about capacity requirements for downlink or uplink traffic.

[0006] Various aspects may include a method for providing streaming service assistance in a 5GS network, the method being performed by a processor of an AF network computing device. Various aspects may include receiving a network assistance request from a streaming service application running on a processor of a user equipment (UE) computing device connected to a 5G radio access network (RAN), sending a RAN capacity request to a network computing device of a 5GS network including a 5G RAN in response to receiving the network assistance request, receiving a RAN capacity notification from the network computing device of the 5GS network in response to sending the RAN capacity request, generating a network assistance response based at least in part on the RAN capacity notification, and sending the network assistance response to the streaming service application running on the processor of the UE computing device.

[0007] In some aspects, sending a RAN capacity request to a network computing device of a 5GS network including a 5G RAN may include sending a RAN capacity request to a network computing device in the 5GS network that is also a computing device of the 5G RAN. In some aspects, sending a RAN capacity request to a network computing device in the 5GS network that is also a computing device of the 5G RAN may include sending a RAN capacity request to a network computing device in the 5GS network that is also a computing device of the 5G RAN via a direct interface between a processor of the AF network computing device and the network computing device in the 5GS network that is also a computing device of the 5G RAN, and receiving a RAN capacity notification may include receiving, by the processor of the AF network computing device, a RAN capacity notification from a network computing device in the 5GS network that is also a computing device of the 5G RAN via a direct interface. In some aspects, the RAN capacity request may be a subscription request for receiving RAN capacity notifications for PDU sessions or QoS flows associated with the UE computing device.

[0008] In some aspects, sending a RAN capacity request to a network computing device of a 5GS network including a 5G RAN may include sending a RAN capacity request to a network computing device in the 5GS network that is not part of the 5G RAN. In some aspects, receiving a RAN capacity notification may include receiving a RAN capacity notification from a network computing device in the 5GS network that is not part of the 5G RAN.

[0009] In some aspects, sending a RAN capacity request to a network computing device of the 5GS network may include sending a RAN capacity request to one or more of an AMF computing device that is not part of the 5G RAN, a PCF computing device that is not part of the 5G RAN, or an SMF computing device that is not part of the 5G RAN.

[0010] Some aspects may also include sending a capacity requirement message to a computing device of the 5G RAN, wherein the capacity requirement message identifies an amount of data to be transmitted during a streaming session for a UE computing device connected to the 5G RAN or during one or more intervals of the streaming session. In some aspects, the capacity requirement message may also identify a time window of applicability of the capacity requirement message, an identifier of the UE computing device connected to the 5G RAN, an identifier of a PDU session that is a streaming session, an identifier of a QoS flow within the PDU session, or an identifier of an AF network computing device. In some aspects, the RAN capacity request may be configured as a resource allocation for a streaming session or one or more intervals within a streaming session based at least in part on the capacity requirement message.

[0011] In some aspects, receiving a network assistance request from a streaming service application running on a processor of a UE computing device connected to the 5G RAN may include receiving a network assistance request from an uplink streaming service application running on a processor of the UE computing device connected to the 5G RAN or a downlink streaming service application running on a processor of the UE computing device connected to the 5G RAN.

[0012] In some aspects, sending a RAN capacity request to a network computing device of a 5GS network including a 5G RAN may include sending a RAN capacity request to one or more of a 5G new radio base station (gNodeB), an access and mobility management function (AMF) computing device, a policy control function (PCF) computing device, or a session management function (SMF) computing device.

[0013] In some aspects, receiving a network assistance request from a streaming service application running on a processor of a UE computing device connected to the 5G RAN may include receiving a DNA request or a UNA request from the streaming service application running on a processor of the UE computing device connected to the 5G RAN.

[0014] In some aspects, receiving the network assistance request may include receiving a request for a recommended operating bit rate prior to initiation of the streaming session. In some aspects, receiving the network assistance request may include receiving a request for a higher bit rate for the streaming session.

[0015] In some aspects, generating the network assisted response based at least in part on the RAN capacity notification may include generating the network assisted response based at least in part on the RAN capacity notification to indicate a recommended bit rate for the streaming session.

[0016] Further aspects may include a wireless device having a processor configured to perform one or more operations of any of the methods outlined above. Further aspects may include a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having processor-executable instructions stored thereon, the processor-executable instructions configured to cause a processor of the wireless device to perform the operations of any of the methods outlined above. Further aspects include a wireless device having components for performing the functions of any of the methods outlined above. Further aspects include a system-on-chip for use in a wireless device, the wireless device including a processor configured to perform one or more operations of any of the methods outlined above. Further aspects include a system-in-package including two systems-on-chip for use in a wireless device, the wireless device including a processor configured to perform one or more operations of any of the methods outlined above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the claims and, together with the general description given above and the detailed description given below, serve to explain features of the claims.

[0018] Figure 1 is a system block diagram conceptually illustrating an example communication system.

[0019] Figure 2 is a component block diagram illustrating a computing system that may be configured to implement streaming service assistance in accordance with various embodiments.

[0020] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a software architecture including a radio protocol stack for user and control planes in wireless communications according to various embodiments.

[0021] Figure 4 is a component block diagram illustrating a system configured for providing streaming service assistance in a 5GS network according to various embodiments.

[0022] Figure 5 is a process flow diagram illustrating a method for providing streaming service assistance in a 5GS network performed by a processor of an AF network computing device according to various embodiments.

[0023] Fig. 6A It is a service-based interface (SBI) representation of an implementation service for supporting streaming service assistance in a 5GS network.

[0024] Figure 6B It is a reference point representation of an embodiment reference point for supporting streaming service assistance in 5GS networks.

[0025] Fig. 7AIt is an SBI representation of an implementation process for supporting streaming service assistance in a 5GS network.

[0026] Figure 7B It is a reference point representation of the implementation process for supporting streaming service assistance in 5GS networks.

[0027] Figure 8 is a process flow diagram illustrating a method for providing streaming service assistance in a 5GS network according to various embodiments.

[0028] Fig. 9 is a component block diagram of a wireless router device suitable for execution by a processor of an application-functional computing device for providing streaming service assistance in a 5GS network according to various embodiments.

[0029] Fig.10 is a component block diagram of a wireless communication device suitable for execution by a processor of an application-functional computing device for providing streaming service assistance in a 5GS network according to various embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Various embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Whenever possible, the same reference numerals will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or similar components. References to specific examples and implementations are for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims.

[0031] Various embodiments provide methods that can be implemented in an application function (AF) network computing device in a 5GS network to provide downlink (DL) network assistance (DNA) and / or uplink (UL) network assistance (UNA) to a user equipment (UE) computing device in the 5GS network. Various embodiments enable the AF network computing device to obtain and report to the UE computing device a report of instantaneous and dynamically changing radio access network (RAN) capacity and / or resource status in response to a request for promotion from a UE computing device accessing a streaming service. The method includes establishing a service-based interface (SBI) or reference point between the AF and the RAN, through which the RAN can provide notification of real-time capacity or excess capacity information to the AF network computing device. In some embodiments, the real-time capacity or excess capacity information of the RAN can be delivered to the AF network computing device via an intermediate network function (NF), such as an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a policy control function (PCF), etc. In some embodiments, the UE computing device and / or the AF network computing device can notify the RAN about the capacity requirements of downlink or uplink services.

[0032] The term "wireless device" as used herein refers to wireless router devices, wireless appliances, cellular phones, smart phones, portable computing devices, personal or mobile multimedia players, laptop computers, tablet computers, smartbooks, ultrabooks, PDAs, wireless email receivers, multimedia Internet cellular phones, medical devices and equipment, biometric sensors / devices, wearable devices (including smart watches, smart clothing, smart glasses, smart wristbands, smart jewelry (e.g., smart rings and smart bracelets, etc.)), entertainment devices (e.g., wireless game controllers, music and video players, satellite radios, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) devices that support wireless networks (including smart meters / sensors), industrial manufacturing equipment, large and small machinery and appliances used in homes or businesses, wireless communication elements within autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles, wireless devices attached to or incorporated into various mobile platforms, global positioning system devices, and similar electronic devices that include memory, wireless communication components, and programmable processors.

[0033] The term "system on chip" (SOC) is used herein to refer to a single integrated circuit (IC) chip that contains multiple resources and / or processors integrated on a single substrate. A single SOC may contain circuits for digital, analog, mixed signal, and radio frequency functions. A single SOC may also include any number of general and / or special processors (digital signal processors, modem processors, video processors, etc.), memory blocks (e.g., ROM, RAM, flash memory, etc.), and resources (e.g., timers, voltage regulators, oscillators, etc.). The SOC may also include software for controlling the integrated resources and processors and for controlling peripheral devices.

[0034] The term "system-in-package" (SIP) may be used herein to refer to a single module or package that contains multiple resources, computing units, cores, and / or processors on two or more IC chips, substrates, or SOCs. For example, a SIP may include a single substrate on which multiple IC chips or semiconductor dies are stacked in a vertical configuration. Similarly, a SIP may include one or more multi-chip modules (MCMs) on which multiple ICs or semiconductor dies are packaged into a unified substrate. A SIP may also include multiple independent SOCs that are coupled together and tightly packaged via high-speed communication circuits, such as on a single motherboard or in a single wireless device. The proximity of the SOCs facilitates high-speed communication and the sharing of memory and resources.

[0035] The term "multi-core processor" may be used herein to refer to a single integrated circuit (IC) chip or chip package that includes two or more independent processing cores (e.g., CPU cores, Internet Protocol (IP) cores, graphics processor unit (GPU) cores, etc.) configured to read and execute program instructions. A SOC may include multiple multi-core processors, and each processor in the SOC may be referred to as a core. The term "multiprocessor" may be used herein to refer to a system or device that includes two or more processing units configured to read and execute program instructions.

[0036] Streaming service (streaming service), such as live uplink streaming (LUS) service, such as Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Twitch, Periscope, Instagram Live, etc., can be supported in 4th generation (4G) and 5th generation (5G) system (5GS) network. In this user-generated live uplink streaming service, users can stream media content such as video content, audio content, etc. to the network server associated with live uplink streaming service via their computing device. Different categories of live uplink streaming services may be professionally generated multimedia content, such as real-time video and audio feeds related to on-site breaking news reports, audio / video streaming media of sports events produced by cameras based on venues, etc. Regardless of the category (e.g., user-generated or professionally generated) of live uplink streaming service, in live uplink streaming service, the content of streaming (or uploading) is then available for other users to watch via their respective computing devices. Both uplink and downlink network capacity can support uplink and / or downlink distribution of media content in LUS service.

[0037] Network assistance may be a feature that supports streaming services. Network assistance may enable a UE to query a network assistance service (NAssS) whether a higher bit rate (referred to as a "boost") in terms of UE reception or transmission may be supported, as well as to request a recommended operable bit rate before a session starts. A UE receiving a streaming service on a downlink (DL) may be referred to as requesting DL network assistance (DNA), while a UE sending streaming content on an uplink (UL) may be referred to as requesting uplink network assistance (UNA). By allowing a higher bit rate to be used for DL ​​reception or UL transmission, a boost may be provided to avoid underflow (in DL reception) or overflow (in UL transmission) of the UE's media buffer. A network assistance request may be a message sent by a UE to query a radio access network (RAN) whether a bit rate increase is supported (e.g., a boost request), or a message sent by a UE to query a recommended bit rate for a streaming session (uplink or downlink recommended bit rate). A network assistance response may be a message received by a UE indicating a recommended bit rate for a streaming session and / or the ability to support a bit rate increase (e.g., a boost status).

[0038] The methods, systems, and devices of various embodiments provide streaming service assistance in a 5GS network. Various embodiments may provide DNA and / or UNA mechanisms via an AF network computing device in a 5GS network. In various embodiments, the AF network computing device may be a network assistance service (NASsS). Various embodiments may enable reporting of instantaneous and dynamically changing radio access network (RAN) capacity and / or resource status to enable the AF network computing device to respond to enhancement requests from user equipment (UE) computing devices providing streaming services. Various embodiments may enable the AF (or NAssS) to provide desired network assistance to requesting UEs.

[0039] In some embodiments, a service-based interface (SBI) or reference point may be established between the AF network computing device and the RAN so that the RAN may provide the AF network computing device with notifications of real-time capacity or excess capacity information about one or more packet flows or quality of service (QoS) flows of the AF session to which the protocol data unit (PDU) session is bound. In some embodiments, the RAN may provide the AF network computing device with notifications of real-time capacity or excess capacity information about one or more packet flows or QoS flows of a separate AF session to which the PDU session is bound. In some embodiments, the information may be delivered directly from the RAN to the AF network computing device via a direct interface, such as an SBI or reference point between the AF network computing device and the RAN. As a specific example, the information may be delivered directly from the RAN to the AF network computing device via an SBI-based NF service that is exposed by the RAN and accessible by the AF network computing device. As another specific example, the information may be delivered directly from the RAN to the AF network computing device via a reference point Nx between the RAN and the AF network computing device. In some embodiments, the RAN may provide the AF network computing device with SBI-based Nx. ran _Capacity_subscribe service operation to subscribe to notifications of real-time excess RAN capacity available for the packet flow identified in the subscription request (within the parent service data flow), and sent whenever the RAN capacity value changes by X% relative to the previous notification. ran The _Capacity_subscribe service operation may require NF_Id and PDU_Session_Id as input, and optional inputs may include QoSType, QFI, QoSProfile and / or QoSRules. ran The output of the _Capacity_subscribe service operation may be a subscription correlation ID in the case of a successful subscription, or a fault code in the case of an unsuccessful subscription. An SBI or reference point may be established between the AF network computing device and the RAN so that the RAN may provide notification to the AF network computing device of real-time capacity or excess capacity information for one or more packet flows or QoS flows of the AF session to which the PDU session is bound. This may enable the RAN information to be exposed directly to the AF network computing device, which may reduce (e.g., minimize) latency and increase (e.g., maximize) opportunities to utilize instantaneously available capacity.

[0040] In some embodiments, the real-time capacity or excess capacity information of the RAN may be delivered to the AF network computing device via an intermediate network function (NF), such as an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), etc. In various embodiments, another NF function such as an AMF may act as a proxy for (R)AN signaling of instantaneous capacity availability. For example, the N2InfoNotify service operation may be extended such that the N2RanInformation element is extended with an InstCapacityAvailability (ICA) information element (IE). In some embodiments, InstCapacityAvailability may include an element "pduSessionId" (which may be an identifier of a PDU session for which ICA is available), an element "qfi" (which may be an identifier of a QoS flow within the PDU session named by "pduSessionId"), an availability window start and end time (during which additional capacity is available), and an expected amount of downlink and / or uplink data that can be carried during the availability window. As an example, the AF network computing device or SMF may subscribe to the InstCapacityAvailability notification for a specific UE and the PDU session of the UE. As another example, the AF network computing device or SMF may subscribe to the InstCapacityAvailability notification for a specific UE, the PDU session of the UE, and the packet flows of the service data flows belonging to the PDU session. In some embodiments, the N2 interface may also be extended to support such signaling. For example, the Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) Application Protocol (NGAP) may be used to carry the InstCapacityAvailability notification. The AMF may send an ICA request to the NG-RAN to request reporting of instantaneous capacity availability. The NG-RAN may use the ICA REPORT message to notify the AMF of the availability. In some embodiments, the AF network computing device may receive notifications through the SMF (e.g., via an extension to the Nsmf_EventExposure_Notify service operation), which in turn is received from the AMF (e.g., via an extension to the Namf_EventExposure_Notify service operation). In some embodiments, in addition to and / or in lieu of instantaneous opportunities, the RAN may report general capacity scheduling to the AF network computing device.

[0041] In some embodiments, the UE computing device and / or the AF network computing device may notify the RAN about the capacity requirements of the downlink or uplink traffic, such as via a capacity requirement message that identifies the amount of data to be transmitted during the entire streaming session of the UE. In some other embodiments, the UE computing device and / or the AF network computing device may notify the RAN about the capacity requirements of the downlink or uplink traffic, such as via a capacity requirement message that identifies the amount of data to be transmitted during a specified interval of the streaming session of the UE. As an example, UE-specific messages may be defined in the NGAP protocol, and the AF network computing device may use the N1N2MessageTransfer process to send information about the UE to the RAN. The information elements that may be the capacity requirement message may include an indication of the time window of applicability of the UE session information or the time window of applicability of the specified duration of the UE session information, an approximate amount of data that may be transmitted for uplink and downlink, an identifier of the UE and PDU session, and / or an identifier of the media AF network computing device. The UE computing device and / or the AF network computing device notifies the RAN about the capacity requirements of the downlink or uplink traffic, such as via a capacity requirement message, and an overall view of resource allocation may be achieved to achieve effective resource allocation by the RAN. Each media session supported by the RAN can share its short-term resource requirements so that resources can be efficiently allocated by the RAN. In some embodiments, an AF network computing device such as a media AF network computing device (e.g., a media AF network computing device that is part of a trusted data network (DN) or an external DN in a 5G media streaming architecture) can share this information with the AMF via a message (e.g., a capacity requirement message), which in turn can share this information with the relevant RAN. In some other embodiments, an AF network computing device (such as a NAssS) can share this information with the AMF via a message (e.g., a capacity requirement message), which in turn can share the information and / or messages with the relevant RAN. Similarly, the UE can share information via a message (e.g., a capacity requirement message) sent directly to the RAN.

[0042] Figure 1 An example of a communication system 100 suitable for implementing various embodiments is shown. The communication system 100 may be a 5G NR network, or any other suitable network, such as an LTE network.

[0043] The communication system 100 may include a heterogeneous network architecture including a core network 140 and various mobile devices (also referred to as user equipment (UE) computing devices) (in Figure 1120a-120e). The communication system 100 may also include multiple base stations (shown as BS 110a, BS 110b, BS 110c and BS 110d) and other network entities. A base station is an entity that communicates with a wireless device (mobile device or UE computing device) and may also be referred to as a NodeB, NodeB, LTE evolved NodeB (eNB), access point (AP), radio head, transmit receive point (TRP), new radio base station (NRBS), 5G NodeB (NB), next generation NodeB (gNB), etc. Each base station may provide communication coverage for a specific geographic area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" may refer to a coverage area of ​​a base station and / or a base station subsystem serving the coverage area, or a combination thereof, depending on the context in which the term is used.

[0044] Base stations 110a-110d may provide communication coverage for macro cells, pico cells, femto cells, other types of cells, or a combination thereof. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access to mobile devices with service subscriptions. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access to mobile devices with service subscriptions. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access to mobile devices associated with the femto cell (e.g., mobile devices in a closed subscriber group (CSG)). A base station for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A base station for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A base station for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto BS or a home BS. In Figure 1 In the example shown, base station 110a may be a macro BS for macro cell 102a, base station 110b may be a pico BS for pico cell 102b, and base station 110c may be a femto BS for femto cell 102c. Base stations 110a-110d may support one or more (e.g., three) cells. The terms "eNB", "base station", "NR BS", "gNB", "TRP", "AP", "Node B", "5G NB", and "cell" may be used interchangeably herein.

[0045] In some examples, the cell may not be fixed, and the geographic area of ​​the cell may move depending on the location of the mobile base station. In some examples, the base stations 110a-110d may be interconnected with each other and with one or more other base stations or network nodes (not shown) in the communication system 100 via various types of backhaul interfaces (such as direct physical connections, virtual networks, or combinations thereof) using any suitable transport network.

[0046] The base stations 110a-110d may communicate with the core network 140 via a wired or wireless communication link 126. The wireless devices 120a-120e (UE computing devices) may communicate with the base stations 110a-110d via a wireless communication link 122.

[0047] The wired communication link 126 can use a variety of wired networks (e.g., Ethernet, television cable, telephone, fiber optic, and other forms of physical network connections) that can use one or more wired communication protocols, such as Ethernet, Point-to-Point Protocol, High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC), Advanced Data Communications Control Protocol (ADCCP), and Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP).

[0048] The communication system 100 may also include a relay station (e.g., relay BS 110d). A relay station is an entity that can receive data transmissions from an upstream station (e.g., a base station or a mobile device) and send data transmissions to a downstream station (e.g., a wireless device or a base station). A relay station may also be a mobile device that can relay transmissions for other wireless devices. Figure 1 In the example shown, a relay station 110d may communicate with the macro base station 110a and the wireless device 120d to facilitate communication between the base station 110a and the wireless device 120d. A relay station may also be referred to as a relay base station, relay base station, relay, or the like.

[0049] The communication system 100 may be a heterogeneous network including different types of base stations, such as macro base stations, pico base stations, femto base stations, relay base stations, etc. These different types of base stations may have different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and different impacts on interference in the communication system 100. For example, a macro base station may have a higher transmit power level (e.g., 5 watts to 40 watts), while a pico base station, a femto base station, and a relay base station may have a lower transmit power level (e.g., 0.1 watt to 2 watts).

[0050] The network controller 130 may be coupled to a set of base stations and may provide coordination and control for these base stations. The network controller 130 may communicate with the base stations via a backhaul. The base stations may also communicate with each other directly or indirectly, for example, via a wireless or wired backhaul.

[0051] Wireless devices (UE computing devices) 120a, 120b, 120c may be dispersed throughout the communication system 100, and each wireless device may be fixed or mobile. A wireless device may also be referred to as an access terminal, UE, terminal, mobile station, subscriber unit, station, etc.

[0052] The macro base station 110a may communicate with the communication network 140 via a wired or wireless communication link 126. The wireless devices 120a, 120b, 120c may communicate with the base stations 110a-110d via a wireless communication link 122.

[0053] The wireless communication links 122, 124 may include multiple carrier signals, frequencies, or frequency bands, each of which may include multiple logical channels. The wireless communication links 122 and 124 may utilize one or more radio access technologies (RATs). Examples of RATs that may be used in the wireless communication links include 3GPP LTE, 3G, 4G, 5G (e.g., NR), GSM, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Microwave Worldwide Interoperability Access (WiMAX), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), and other mobile phone communication technology cellular RATs. Further examples of RATs that may be used in one or more of the various wireless communication links 122, 124 within the communication system 100 include medium-range protocols such as Wi-Fi, LTE-U, LTE-Direct, LAA, MuLTEfire, and relatively short-range RATs such as ZigBee, Bluetooth, and Bluetooth Low Energy (LE).

[0054] Some wireless networks (e.g., LTE) use orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain using OFDM and in the time domain using SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the spacing of the subcarriers can be 15kHz, and the minimum resource allocation (called a "resource block") can be 12 subcarriers (or 180kHz). Therefore, for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), the nominal fast Fourier transform (FFT) size can be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048, respectively. The system bandwidth can also be divided into subbands. For example, one subband may cover 1.08 MHz (eg, 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0055] Although the description of some embodiments may use terms and examples associated with LTE technology, various embodiments may be applicable to other wireless communication systems, such as new radio (NR) or 5G networks. NR may use OFDM with a cyclic prefix (CP) on the uplink (UL) and downlink (DL), and include support for half-duplex operation using time division duplex (TDD). A single component carrier bandwidth of 100MHz may be supported. Nr resource blocks may span 12 subcarriers with a subcarrier bandwidth of 75kHz in a duration of 0.1ms. Each radio frame may consist of 50 subframes with a length of 10ms. Therefore, each subframe may have a length of 0.2ms. Each subframe may indicate a link direction (ie, DL or UL) for data transmission, and the link direction of each subframe may be switched dynamically. Each subframe may include DL / UL data and DL / UL control data. Beamforming may be supported, and the beam direction may be dynamically configured. Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission with precoding may also be supported. MIMO configurations in the DL can support up to eight transmit antennas with multi-layer DL transmissions of up to eight streams and up to two streams per wireless device. Multi-layer transmissions with up to 2 streams per wireless device can be supported. Aggregation of multiple cells can be supported with up to eight serving cells. Alternatively, NR can support different air interfaces in addition to OFDM-based air interfaces.

[0056] Some mobile devices may be considered machine type communication (MTC) or evolved or enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) mobile devices. MTC and eMTC mobile devices include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, etc. that can communicate with a base station, another device (e.g., a remote device), or some other entity. A wireless node may provide, for example, a connection to or to a network (e.g., a wide area network such as the Internet or a cellular network) via a wired or wireless communication link. Some mobile devices may be considered Internet of Things (IoT) devices or may be implemented as NB-IoT (narrowband Internet of Things) devices. The wireless devices 120a-e may be included inside a housing that houses components of the wireless devices (e.g., processor components, memory components, similar components, or combinations thereof).

[0057] Generally, any number of communication systems and any number of wireless networks can be deployed in a given geographic area. Each communication system and wireless network can support a specific radio access technology (RAT) and can operate on one or more frequencies. RAT can also be referred to as radio technology, air interface, etc. Frequency can also be referred to as carrier, frequency channel, etc. Each frequency can support a single RAT in a given geographic area to avoid interference between communication systems of different RATs. In some cases, NR or 5G RAT networks can be deployed.

[0058] In some implementations, two or more mobile devices 120a-e (e.g., shown as wireless device 120a and wireless device 120e) may communicate directly (e.g., without using base stations 110a-110d as an intermediary to communicate with each other) using one or more sidelink channels 124. For example, the wireless devices 120a-e may communicate using peer-to-peer (P2P) communication, device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) protocols (which may include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) protocols, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) protocols, or the like), mesh networks, or the like, or a combination thereof. In such cases, the wireless devices 120a-e may perform scheduling operations, resource selection operations, and other operations described elsewhere herein as being performed by base stations 110a-110d.

[0059] Various embodiments may be implemented on a number of single-processor and multi-processor computer systems, including a system-on-a-chip (SOC) or a system-in-package (SIP). Figure 2 An example computing system or SIP 200 architecture is shown that may be used in a wireless device (UE computing device) implementing various embodiments.

[0060] refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 , the example SIP 200 shown includes two SOCs 202 and 204, a clock 206, and a voltage regulator 208. In some embodiments, the first SOC 202 can operate as a central processing unit (CPU) of the wireless device, which executes instructions of a software application by performing arithmetic, logic, control, and input / output (I / O) operations specified by the instructions. In some embodiments, the second SOC 204 can operate as a dedicated processing unit. For example, the second SOC 204 can operate as a dedicated 5G processing unit, which is responsible for managing high-capacity, high-speed (e.g., 5Gbps, etc.) or very high frequency short wavelength (e.g., 28GHz millimeter wave spectrum, etc.) communications.

[0061] The first SOC 202 may include a digital signal processor (DSP) 210, a modem processor 212, a graphics processor 214, an application processor 216, one or more coprocessors 218 (e.g., vector coprocessors) connected to one or more processors, memory 220, custom circuits 222, system components and resources 224, an interconnect / bus module 226, one or more temperature sensors 230, a thermal management unit 232, and a thermal power envelope (TPE) component 234. The second SOC 204 may include a 5G modem processor 252, a power management unit 254, an interconnect / bus module 264, a plurality of mmWave transceivers 256, a memory 258, and various additional processors 260, such as an application processor, a packet processor, and the like.

[0062] Each processor 210, 212, 214, 216, 218, 252, 260 may include one or more cores, and each processor / core may perform operations independently of other processors / cores. For example, the first SOC 202 may include a processor that executes a first type of operating system (such as FreeBSD, LINUX, OS X, etc.) and a processor that executes a second type of operating system (such as Microsoft WINDOWS10). In addition, any or all of the processors 210, 212, 214, 216, 218, 252, 260 may be included as part of a processor cluster architecture (such as a synchronous processor cluster architecture, an asynchronous or heterogeneous processor cluster architecture, etc.).

[0063] The first SOC 202 and the second SOC 204 may include various system components, resources, and custom circuits for managing sensor data, analog-to-digital conversion, wireless data transmission, and for performing other specialized operations, such as decoding data packets and processing encoded audio and video signals for presentation in a Web browser. For example, the system components and resources 224 of the first SOC 202 may include power amplifiers, voltage regulators, oscillators, phase-locked loops, peripheral bridges, data controllers, memory controllers, system controllers, access ports, timers, and other similar components for supporting processors and software clients running on wireless devices. The system components and resources 224 and / or custom circuits 222 may also include circuits for interfacing with peripheral devices, such as cameras, electronic displays, wireless communication devices, external memory chips, and the like.

[0064] The first SOC 202 and the second SOC 204 can communicate via an interconnect / bus module 250. The various processors 210, 212, 214, 216, 218 can be interconnected to one or more memory elements 220, system components and resources 224, and custom circuits 222 and thermal management units 232 via an interconnect / bus module 226. Similarly, the processor 252 can be interconnected to a power management unit 254, a millimeter wave transceiver 256, a memory 258, and various additional processors 260 via an interconnect / bus module 264. The interconnect / bus modules 226, 250, 264 can include reconfigurable logic gate arrays and / or implement bus architectures (e.g., CoreConnect, AMBA, etc.). Communications can be provided by advanced interconnects, such as high-performance networks on chip (NoC).

[0065] The first SOC 202 and / or the second SOC 204 may also include an input / output module (not shown) for communicating with resources external to the SOC, such as a clock 206 and a voltage regulator 208. Resources external to the SOC (e.g., clock 206, voltage regulator 208) may be shared by two or more internal SOC processors / cores.

[0066] In addition to the example SIP 200 discussed above, various embodiments may be implemented in a wide variety of computing systems that may include a single processor, multiple processors, multi-core processors, or any combination thereof.

[0067] Figure 3 An example of a software architecture 300 is shown, which includes a radio protocol stack for user and control planes in wireless communications between a base station 350 (e.g., base stations 110a-110d) and a wireless device (UE computing device) 320 (e.g., wireless devices 120a-120e, 200). Figures 1 to 3, the wireless device 320 may implement the software architecture 300 to communicate with a base station 350 of a communication system (e.g., 100). In various embodiments, the layers in the software architecture 300 may form a logical connection with the corresponding layers in the software of the base station 350. The software architecture 300 may be distributed in one or more processors (e.g., processors 212, 214, 216, 218, 252, 260). Although illustrated with respect to one radio protocol stack, in a multi-SIM (subscriber identity module) wireless device, the software architecture 300 may include multiple protocol stacks, each of which may be associated with a different SIM (e.g., two protocol stacks are associated with two SIMs, respectively, in a dual SIM wireless communication device). Although described below with reference to LTE communication layers, the software architecture 300 may support any of a variety of standards and protocols for wireless communication, and / or may include additional protocol stacks that support any of a variety of standard and protocol wireless communications.

[0068] The software architecture 300 may include a non-access stratum (NAS) 302 and an access stratum (AS) 304. The NAS 302 may include functions and protocols that support packet filtering, security management, mobility control, session management, and services and signaling between a SIM of a wireless device (such as SIM 204) and its core network 140. The AS 304 may include functions and protocols that support communications between a SIM (e.g., SIM 204) and an entity (e.g., a base station) of a supported access network. Specifically, the AS 304 may include at least three layers (layer 1, layer 2, and layer 3), each of which may include various sublayers.

[0069] In the user and control planes, layer 1 (L1) of the AS 304 may be a physical layer (PHY) 306, which may oversee functions that enable transmission and / or reception over an air interface. Examples of such physical layer 306 functions may include cyclic redundancy check (CRC) attachment, codec blocks, scrambling and descrambling, modulation and demodulation, signal measurement, MIMO, etc. The physical layer may include various logical channels, including a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0070] In the user and control planes, Layer 2 (L2) of AS 304 may be responsible for the link between wireless device 320 and base station 350 through physical layer 306. In various embodiments, Layer 2 may include a medium access control (MAC) sublayer 308, a radio link control (RLC) sublayer 310, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) 312 sublayer, each of which forms a logical connection that terminates at base station 350.

[0071] In the control plane, layer 3 (L3) of AS 304 may include a radio resource control (RRC) sublayer 3. Although not shown, the software architecture 300 may include additional layer 3 sublayers, as well as various upper layers above layer 3. In various embodiments, the RRC sublayer 313 may provide functionality including broadcasting system information, paging, and establishing and releasing RRC signaling connections between wireless devices 320 and base stations 350.

[0072] In various embodiments, the PDCP sublayer 312 may provide uplink functions including multiplexing between different radio bearers and logical channels, sequence number addition, handover data processing, integrity protection, encryption, and header compression. In the downlink, the PDCP sublayer 312 may provide functions including in-sequence delivery of data packets, duplicate data packet detection, integrity verification, decryption, and header decompression.

[0073] In the uplink, the RLC sublayer 310 may provide segmentation and concatenation of upper layer data packets, retransmission of lost data packets, and automatic repeat request (ARQ). In the downlink, the functions of the RLC sublayer 310 may include reordering data packets to compensate for out-of-order reception, reassembling upper layer data packets, and ARQ.

[0074] In the uplink, the MAC sublayer 308 can provide functions including multiplexing between logical and transport channels, random access procedures, logical channel priorities, and hybrid ARQ (HARQ) operations. In the downlink, MAC layer functions may include intra-cell channel mapping, demultiplexing, discontinuous reception (DRX), and HARQ operations.

[0075] While the software architecture 300 may provide functionality for sending data over a physical medium, the software architecture 300 may also include at least one host layer 314 to provide data transmission services to various applications in the wireless device 320. In some embodiments, the application-specific functionality provided by the at least one host layer 314 may provide an interface between the software architecture and a general purpose processor. As an example, the host layer 314 may provide various functions, including streaming service application functions 360 (such as downlink streaming service application functions and / or uplink streaming service application functions), media session handler functions 362, media player entities, etc. Such streaming service application functions 360 and / or media handler functions 362 may operate together to provide streaming services (e.g., uplink streaming services, downlink streaming services, etc.) on the wireless device 320.

[0076] In other embodiments, the software architecture 300 may include one or more higher logical layers (e.g., transport layer, session layer, presentation layer, application layer, etc.) that provide host layer functionality. For example, in some embodiments, the software architecture 300 may include a network layer (e.g., IP layer) where the logical connection terminates at a mobile operator network's overall external packet data network (PDN) gateway (PGW). In some embodiments, the software architecture 300 may include an application layer where the logical connection terminates at another device (e.g., end-user device, server, etc.). In some embodiments, the software architecture 300 may also include a hardware interface 316 between the physical layer 306 and communication hardware (e.g., one or more radio frequency (RF) transceivers) in the AS 304.

[0077] Figure 4 4 is a block diagram illustrating components of a system 400 configured for providing streaming service assistance in a 5GS network according to various embodiments. In some embodiments, the system 400 may include one or more computing platforms 402 or one or more remote platforms 404. Figures 1 to 4 , computing platform 402 may include a base station (e.g., base stations 110a-110d, 350) and / or a wireless device (e.g., wireless devices 120a-120e, 200, 320). Remote platform 404 may include a base station (e.g., base stations 110a-110d, 350) and / or a wireless device (e.g., wireless devices 120a-120e, 200, 320).

[0078] The computing platform 402 may be configured by machine-readable instructions 406. The machine-readable instructions 406 may include one or more instruction modules. The instruction modules may include computer program modules. The instruction modules may include one or more of a network assistance request receiving module 408, a RAN capacity request sending module 410, a RAN capacity notification receiving module 412, a network assistance response generating module 414, a network assistance response sending module 416, and / or other instruction modules.

[0079] The network assistance request receiving module 408 may be configured to receive a network assistance request from a streaming service application running on a processor of a UE computing device connected to the 5GRAN. The network assistance request may be a downlink (DL) network assistance (DNA) request or an uplink (UL) network assistance (UNA) request. The network assistance request may be a request for a recommended operating bit rate sent by the UE computing device before the UE computing device initiates a streaming session. The network assistance request may be a request for a higher bit rate for a streaming session. The streaming service application running on the processor of the UE computing device may be an uplink streaming service application or a downlink streaming service application. In some embodiments, the network assistance request may be received directly from the streaming service application running on the processor of the UE computing device. In some embodiments, the network assistance request from the streaming service application running on the processor of the UE computing device may be received via a middleware function running on the processor of the UE computing device. Such a middleware function may be an agent of a streaming service application that provides streaming services on the UE computing device, and such an agent may sometimes be referred to as a media session handler. Whether received directly from the streaming service application or via a middleware function acting as a proxy for the streaming service application (eg, a media session handler), the network assistance request may be considered to be received from a processor running on the UE computing device.

[0080] The RAN capacity request sending module 410 may be configured to send a RAN capacity request to a network computing device of a 5GS network including a 5G RAN in response to receiving a network assistance request. The network computing device of the 5GS network may be a computing device of the 5G RAN. The network computing device of the 5GS network may be a computing device that is not part of the 5G RAN. In some embodiments, the RAN capacity request may be a direct request from a processor of the AF network computing device to a network computing device of the 5G RAN for the capacity of a downlink or uplink service associated with the amount of data to be transmitted during a specified interval of the entire streaming session of the UE or the entire streaming session. In some other embodiments, the RAN capacity request may be a subscription of a processor of the AF network computing device to receive notifications of real-time excess RAN capacity from a network computing device of the 5G RAN. As a non-limiting example, the network computing device of the 5GS network may be a 5G new radio base station (gNodeB), an AMF computing device, a PCF computing device, an SMF, etc.

[0081] The RAN capacity notification receiving module 412 may be configured to receive a RAN capacity notification from a computing device of the 5GS network in response to sending a RAN capacity request. The RAN capacity request and the RAN capacity notification may be exchanged via a direct interface between a processor of the AF network computing device and a network computing device of the 5G RAN. In some embodiments, the RAN capacity request may be a N-based SBI. ran _Capacity_subscribe service operation, RAN can provide SBI-based N ran _Capacity_subscribe service operation to subscribe to notifications of real-time excess RAN capacity available for the packet flow identified in the subscription request (within the parent service data flow), and sent whenever the RAN capacity value changes by X% relative to the previous notification. ran The _Capacity_subscribe service operation may require NF_Id and PDU_Session_Id as input, and optional inputs may include QoSType, QFI, QoSProfile and / or QoSRules. ran The output of the _Capacity_subscribe service operation may be a subscription correlation ID in the case of a successful subscription, or a fault code in the case of an unsuccessful subscription. RAN capacity requests and RAN capacity notifications may be exchanged between a processor of the AF network computing device and a computing device that is not part of the 5G RAN. The RAN capacity notification may be forwarded from a computing device of the 5G RAN to a processor of the AF network computing device via a computing device that is not part of the 5G RAN. For example, the N2InfoNotify service operation may be extended such that the N2RanInformation element is extended with an InstCapacityAvailability (ICA) information element (IE). In some embodiments, InstCapacityAvailability may include an element "pduSessionId" (which may be an identifier of a PDU session available to the ICA), an element "qfi" (which may be an identifier of a QoS flow within the PDU session named by "pduSessionId"), an availability window start and end time (during which additional capacity is available), and an expected amount of downlink and / or uplink data that can be carried during the availability window. The AF network computing device or SMF may subscribe to the InstCapacityAvailability notification for a specific UE or PDU session.

[0082] The network-assisted response generation module 414 may be configured to generate a network-assisted response based at least in part on the RAN capacity notification.The network-assisted response may indicate a recommended bit rate for the streaming session.

[0083] The network-assisted response sending module 416 may be configured to send a network-assisted response to a streaming service application running on a processor of the UE computing device. In some embodiments, the network-assisted response may be sent directly to the streaming service application running on the processor of the UE computing device. In some embodiments, the network-assisted response may be sent to a middleware function (e.g., a media session handler), which may be a proxy for the streaming service application providing streaming services on the UE computing device, and the middleware function (e.g., the media session handler) may forward the network-assisted response to the streaming service application. Whether sent directly to the streaming service application or via a middleware function that acts as a proxy for the streaming service application (e.g., the media session handler), the network-assisted response may be considered to be sent to the streaming service application running on the processor of the UE computing device.

[0084] Figure 5 A process flow diagram of an example method for providing streaming service assistance in a 5GS network according to various embodiments is shown. Figure 1-5 , the method 500 may be implemented by a processor of a base station (eg, base stations 110a - 110d , 350 ) and / or a wireless device (eg, wireless devices 120a - 120e , 200 , 320 ).

[0085] In box 502, the processor may perform operations including receiving a network assistance request from a streaming service application running on a processor of a UE computing device connected to a 5G RAN. In some embodiments, the network assistance request may be a DNA request or a UNA. In some embodiments, the network assistance request may be a request for a recommended operating bit rate sent by the UE computing device before the UE computing device initiates a streaming session. In some embodiments, the network assistance request may be a request for a higher bit rate for the streaming session. As an example, the network assistance request may be a bit rate increase request from the UE computing device. In some embodiments, the network assistance request may identify the 5G RAN to which the UE computing device is connected. In some embodiments, the network assistance request may be received directly from the streaming service application running on the processor of the UE computing device. In some embodiments, the network assistance request from the streaming service application running on the processor of the UE computing device may be received via a middleware function running on the processor of the UE computing device (e.g., via a media session handler).

[0086] In block 504, the processor may perform operations including sending a RAN capacity request to a network computing device of a 5GS network including a 5G RAN in response to receiving a network assistance request. In some embodiments, sending the RAN capacity request may include determining a 5GS network and / or a 5G RAN to which the UE computing device sending the network assistance request is connected. In some embodiments, the RAN capacity request may be a subscription of a processor of the AF network computing device to receive notifications of real-time excess RAN capacity from the network computing device of the 5G RAN. In some embodiments, the RAN capacity request may be a subscription request for receiving RAN capacity notifications for PDU sessions or QoS flows associated with the UE computing device sending the network assistance request.

[0087] In some embodiments, the RAN capacity request may be sent directly to a network computing device of the 5G RAN, such as a gNodeB, etc. For example, the RAN capacity request may be sent directly from a processor of a UE computing device to a network computing device of the 5G RAN, such as a gNodeB, etc., via a media access control (MAC) message. In some embodiments, a direct interface may be established between a processor of the AF network computing device and a network computing device of the 5G RAN. In some embodiments, an SBI or reference point may be established between the AF network computing device and the RAN so that the RAN may provide the AF network computing device with notification of real-time capacity or excess capacity information of one or more packet flows or QoS flows of the AF session to which the PDU session is bound.

[0088] In some embodiments, the RAN capacity request and RAN capacity notification may be sent to a computing device that is not part of the 5G RAN, such as a computing device that is an intermediate NF, such as an AMF, SMF, etc. In various embodiments, another NF function such as an AMF may act as a proxy for (R)AN signaling of instantaneous capacity availability.

[0089] In box 506, the processor may perform operations including receiving a RAN capacity notification of a computing device from the 5GS network in response to sending the RAN capacity request.

[0090] In some embodiments, the RAN capacity notification may be received via a direct interface between a processor of the AF network computing device and a network computing device of the 5G RAN. In some embodiments, an SBI or reference point may be established between the AF network computing device and the RAN so that the RAN may provide the AF network computing device with notifications of real-time capacity or excess capacity information about one or more packet flows or QoS flows of the AF session to which the PDU session is bound. As a specific example, the information may be delivered directly from the RAN to the AF network computing device via a service N(r) that is exposed by the RAN and accessible by the AF network computing device. As another specific example, the information may be delivered directly from the RAN to the AF network computing device via a reference point Nx between the RAN and the AF network computing device. In some embodiments, the RAN may provide the AF network computing device with an SBI-based Nx notification. ran _Capacity_subscribe service operation to subscribe to notifications of real-time excess RAN capacity available for the packet flow identified in the subscription request (within the parent service data flow), and sent whenever the RAN capacity value changes by X% relative to the previous notification. ran The _Capacity_subscribe service operation may require NF_Id and PDU_Session_Id as input, and optional inputs may include QoSType, QFI, QoSProfile and / or QoSRules. ran The output of the _Capacity_subscribe service operation can be a subscription correlation ID in the case of a successful subscription, or a failure code in the case of an unsuccessful subscription.

[0091] In some embodiments, the RAN capacity notification may be received by a processor of the AF network computing device from a computing device that is not part of the 5G RAN, such as an AMF, a session management function (SMF), a policy control function (PCF), etc. In various embodiments, another NF function such as an AMF may act as a proxy for (R)AN signaling of instantaneous capacity availability. In some embodiments, the RAN capacity notification may be forwarded from a computing device of the 5G RAN to a processor of the AF network computing device via a computing device that is not part of the 5G RAN. For example, the N2InfoNotify service operation may be extended such that the N2RanInformation element is extended with an InstCapacityAvailability (ICA) information element (IE). In some embodiments, InstCapacityAvailability may include an element "pduSessionId" (which may be an identifier of a PDU session for which ICA is available), an element "qfi" (which may be an identifier of a QoS flow within the PDU session named by "pduSessionId"), an availability window start and end time (during which additional capacity is available), and an expected amount of downlink and / or uplink data that can be carried during the availability window. The AF network computing device or SMF may subscribe to the InstCapacityAvailability notification for a specific UE or PDU session. In some embodiments, the N2 interface may also be extended to support such signaling. For example, the NGAP protocol may be used to carry the InstCapacityAvailability notification. The AMF may send an ICA request to the NG-RAN to request reporting of instantaneous capacity availability. The NG-RAN may use the ICA REPORT message to notify the AMF of the availability. In some embodiments, the AF network computing device may receive notifications through the SMF (e.g., via an extension to the Nsmf_EventExposure_Notify service operation), which in turn is received from the AMF (e.g., via an extension to the Namf_EventExposure_Notify service operation). In some embodiments, in addition to and / or in lieu of instantaneous opportunities, the RAN may report general capacity scheduling to the AF network computing device.

[0092] In block 508, the processor may perform operations including generating a network assisted response based at least in part on the RAN capacity notification. In some embodiments, the network assisted response may indicate a recommended bit rate for the streaming session and / or a boost status of the streaming session (e.g., whether the boost is supported by the RAN).

[0093] In block 510, the processor may perform operations including sending a network assistance response to a streaming service application running on a processor of the UE computing device. In some embodiments, the network assistance response may be sent directly to the streaming service application running on the processor of the UE computing device. In some embodiments, the network assistance request may be sent to the streaming service application running on the processor of the UE computing device via a middleware function running on the processor of the UE computing device (e.g., via a media session handler). The middleware function (e.g., the media session handler) may provide the network assistance response to the streaming service application.

[0094] Fig. 6A FIG. 6 is an SBI representation 600 of an embodiment service 602 for supporting streaming service assistance in a 5GS network. Figures 1 to 6A , SBI representation 600 shows that RAN capacity notification can be delivered directly from the RAN to the AF network computing device via a service N(r)an 602 that is exposed by the RAN and accessible by the AF network computing device. In some embodiments, the RAN can provide SBI-based N(r)an for the AF network computing device. ran The _Capacity_subscribe service operation subscribes to notifications of real-time excess RAN capacity available for the packet flow (within the parent service data flow) identified in the subscription request, and is sent whenever the RAN capacity value changes by X% relative to the previous notification.

[0095] N ran The _Capacity_subscribe service operation may require NF_Id and PDU_Session_Id as input, and optional inputs may include QoSType, QFI, QoSProfile and / or QoSRules.

[0096] N ran The output of the _Capacity_subscribe service operation can be a subscription correlation ID in the case of a successful subscription, or a failure code in the case of an unsuccessful subscription.

[0097] Figure 6B Reference point representation 650 of an embodiment reference point 651 for supporting streaming service assistance in a 5GS network. Figures 1 to 6B , reference point representation 650 shows that the RAN capacity notification can be delivered directly from the RAN to the AF network computing device via reference point Nx 651 between the RAN and the AF network computing device.

[0098] Fig. 7A FIG700 is an SBI representation of an embodiment process for supporting streaming service assistance in a 5GS network. Figures 1 to 7A , SBI representation 700 shows that another NF function (such as AMF) can act as a proxy for (R)AN signaling of instantaneous capacity availability. For example, Serving N2 706, Serving Namf 704 and / or Serving Nsmf 702 enable AMF or another NF function to act as a proxy for providing RAN capacity notification to AF network computing devices. For example, the N2InfoNotify service operation can be extended so that the N2RanInformation element is extended with the InstCapacityAvailability (ICA) information element (IE). In some embodiments, InstCapacityAvailability may include an element "pduSessionId" (which may be an identifier of a PDU session available to the ICA), an element "qfi" (which may be an identifier of a QoS flow within the PDU session named by "pduSessionId"), an availability window start and end time (during which additional capacity is available), and an expected amount of downlink and / or uplink data that can be carried during the availability window. The AF network computing device or SMF may subscribe to the InstCapacityAvailability notification for a specific UE or PDU session. Although Fig. 7A The AMF and SMF are shown acting as proxies, but according to various embodiments, any other NF function (such as PCF) can act as a proxy in a similar manner.

[0099] Figure 7B Reference point representation 750 of an embodiment process for supporting streaming service assistance in a 5GS network. Figures 1 to 7B, SBI representation 750 shows that another NF function (such as AMF) can act as a proxy for (R)AN signaling of instantaneous capacity availability. For example, reference point N2 752, reference point N11 753, and reference point Nx 751 can be configured such that the AMF or another NF function can act as a proxy for providing RAN capacity notifications to the AF network computing device. For example, the NGAP protocol can be used to carry the InstCapacityAvailability notification. The AMF can send an ICA request to the NG-RAN to request a report of instantaneous capacity availability. The NG-RAN can use the ICA REPORT message to notify the AMF of the availability. In some embodiments, the AF network computing device can receive a notification via the SMF (e.g., via an extension to the Nsmf_EventExposure_Notify service operation), which in turn is received from the AMF (e.g., via an extension to the Namf_EventExposure_Notify service operation). In some embodiments, in addition to and / or instead of instantaneous opportunities, the RAN can report general capacity scheduling to the AF network computing device. Although Figure 7B The AMF is shown acting as a proxy, but according to various embodiments, any other NF function (such as PCF, SMF, etc.) can act as a proxy in a similar manner.

[0100] Figure 8 A process flow diagram of an example method 800 for providing streaming service assistance in a 5GS network according to various embodiments is shown. Figure 1-8 , the method 800 may be implemented by a processor of a base station (e.g., base stations 110a-110d, 350) and / or a wireless device (e.g., wireless devices 120a-120e, 200, 320). In various embodiments, the method 800 may be combined with the method 500 ( Figure 5 ) operation to execute.

[0101] In block 802, the processor may perform operations including sending a capacity requirement message to a computing device of the 5G RAN, wherein the capacity requirement message identifies the amount of data to be transmitted during a streaming session in which the UE computing device communicates with the 5G RAN. In some embodiments, the capacity requirement message may indicate the desired data rate at which the UE computing device transmits the streaming service content to the 5G RAN. In some embodiments, the UE computing device and / or the AF network computing device may notify the RAN of capacity requirements for downlink or uplink traffic, such as via a capacity requirement message identifying the amount of data to be transmitted during the UE's streaming session. In some embodiments, the capacity requirement message may also identify a time window of applicability of the capacity requirement message, an identifier of the UE computing device communicating with the 5G RAN, an identifier of a protocol data unit (PDU) session that is a streaming session, an identifier of a QoS flow within the PDU session, and / or an identifier of the AF network computing device. In some embodiments, the capacity requirement message may be sent directly from the UE computing device to the computing device of the 5G RAN. For example, the capacity requirement message may be sent directly from the UE computing device to the computing device of the 5G RAN as a RAN signaling message. In some embodiments, the capacity requirement message is sent from the UE computing device to the computing device of the 5G RAN via one or more network computing devices of the 5GS network. In some embodiments, the RAN capacity notification can be a resource allocation for the streaming session based at least in part on the capacity requirement message.

[0102] As an example, UE-specific messages may be defined in the NGAP protocol, and the AF network computing device may use the N1N2MessageTransfer process to send information about the UE to the RAN. The information elements that may be capacity requirement messages may include an indication of the time window of applicability of the UE session information, the approximate amount of data that may be transmitted for uplink and downlink, the identifier of the UE and PDU session, the identifier of the QoS flow within the PDU session, and / or the identifier of the media AF network computing device or NAssS. The UE computing device and / or the AF network computing device may implement an overall view of resource allocation to implement effective resource allocation by the RAN, such as notifying the RAN of capacity requirements for downlink or uplink services via a capacity requirement message. Each media session supported by the RAN may share its short-term resource requirements so that resources may be effectively allocated by the RAN. In some embodiments, the AF network computing device (such as a media AF network computing device) may share the information with the AMF via a message (e.g., a capacity requirement message), which in turn may share the information with the relevant RAN. Similarly, the UE may share information via a message (e.g., a capacity requirement message) sent directly to the RAN.

[0103] In some embodiments, when executing the operations of block 802 to send a capacity requirement message, the processor may execute method 500 ( Figure 5 ) of block 502. In some embodiments, the capacity requirement message may be used by the RAN to generate a RAN capacity notification.

[0104] Various embodiments may be implemented on various wireless network devices, examples of which are Fig. 9 900, which is used as a network element of a communication network, such as a base station (e.g., base stations 110a-110d, 350, etc.). Such a network computing device may include at least Fig. 9 Components shown in . Reference Figures 1 to 9 , the network computing device 900 may generally include a processor 901 coupled to a volatile memory 902 and a large capacity non-volatile memory (such as a disk drive 903). The network computing device 900 may also include a peripheral memory access device, such as a floppy disk drive, a compact disk (CD) or a digital video disk (DVD) drive 906 coupled to the processor 901. The network computing device 900 may also include a network access port 904 (or interface) coupled to the processor 901 for establishing a data connection with a network such as the Internet and / or a local area network coupled to other system computers and servers. The network computing device 900 may include one or more antennas 907 for sending and receiving electromagnetic radiation, which may be connected to a wireless communication link. The network computing device 900 may include additional access ports, such as USB, Firewire, Thunderbolt, etc., for coupling to peripheral devices, external memory or other devices.

[0105] Various embodiments may be implemented on various wireless devices (e.g., wireless devices 120a-120e, 200, 320), examples of which are described in Fig.10 1000 is shown in the form of a smartphone 1000. Figures 1 to 10 , the smartphone 1000 may include a first SOC 202 (e.g., a SOC-CPU) coupled to a second SOC 204 (e.g., a 5G-capable SOC). The first SOC 202 and the second SOC 204 may be coupled to internal memories 1006 and 1016, a display 1012, and a speaker 1014. In addition, the smartphone 1000 may include an antenna 1004 for sending and receiving electromagnetic radiation, which may be connected to a wireless data link and / or a cellular telephone transceiver 1008, which is coupled to one or more processors in the first SOC 202 and / or the second SOC 204. The smartphone 1000 also typically includes a menu selection button or rocker switch 1020 for receiving user input.

[0106] The typical smartphone 1000 also includes a sound coding / decoding (CODEC) circuit 1010, which digitizes the sound received from the microphone into data packets suitable for wireless transmission and decodes the received sound data packets to generate an analog signal provided to the speaker to generate sound. In addition, one or more processors in the first SOC 202 and the second SOC 204, the wireless transceiver 1008 and the CODEC circuit 1010 may include a digital signal processor (DSP) circuit (not shown separately).

[0107] The processors of the wireless network computing device 900 and the smartphone 1000 may be any programmable microprocessor, microcomputer or multi-processor chip or chips that can be configured by software instructions (applications) to perform various functions, including the functions of the various embodiments described below. In some mobile devices, multiple processors may be provided, such as one processor within the SOC 204 dedicated to wireless communication functions and one processor within the SOC 202 dedicated to running other applications. Typically, software applications may be stored in the memory 1006, 1016 before they are accessed and loaded into the processor. The processor may include internal memory sufficient to store the application software instructions.

[0108] As used in this application, the terms "component", "module", "system", etc. are intended to include computer-related entities, such as but not limited to hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution, which are configured to perform specific operations or functions. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, an execution thread, a program, and / or a computer. As an example, both an application running on a wireless device and a wireless device can be referred to as a component. One or more components can reside in a process and / or an execution thread, and a component can be located on a processor or core and / or distributed between two or more processors or cores. In addition, these components can be executed by various non-temporary computer-readable media having various instructions and / or data structures stored thereon. Components can communicate through local and / or remote processes, function or procedure calls, electronic signals, data packets, memory read / writes, and other known network, computer, processor, and / or process-related communication methods.

[0109] Many different cellular and mobile communication services and standards are available or expected in the future, all of which can be implemented and benefit from various embodiments. Such services and standards include, for example, the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, third generation wireless mobile communication technology (3G), fourth generation wireless mobile communication technology (4G), fifth generation wireless mobile communication technology (5G), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), 3GSM, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system (e.g., cdmaOne, CDMA1020TM), Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), Digital AMPS (IS-136 / TDMA), Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO), Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Wi-Fi Protected Access I and II (WPA, WPA2), and Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN). For example, each of these technologies involves the transmission and reception of voice, data, signaling and / or content messages. It should be understood that any reference to terms and / or technical details related to a single telecommunication standard or technology is only for illustrative purposes and is not intended to limit the scope of the claims to a specific communication system or technology unless specifically stated in the claims.

[0110] The various embodiments shown and described are provided as examples only to illustrate various features of the claims. However, the features shown and described with respect to any given embodiment are not necessarily limited to the associated embodiment and may be used or combined with other embodiments shown and described. In addition, the claims are not intended to be limited to any one example embodiment. For example, one or more operations of method 500 or 800 may be replaced or combined with one or more operations of method 500 or 800.

[0111] The above method description and process flow chart are only provided as illustrative examples, and are not intended to require or imply that the operation of various embodiments must be performed in the proposed order. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the order of operations in the aforementioned embodiments can be performed in any order. For example, the words "afterwards", "subsequently", "next", etc. are not intended to limit the order of operations, and these words are used to guide the reader to complete the description of the method. In addition, any reference to a claim element in the singular (for example, by using the article "one", "an" or "the" should not be interpreted as limiting the element to the singular.

[0112] Various illustrative logic blocks, modules, components, circuits and algorithmic operations described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits and operations have been described above generally according to their functions. Whether such functions are implemented as hardware or software depends on specific applications and on the design constraints imposed by the overall system. Technicians can implement the functions in different ways for each specific application, but such embodiment decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the claims.

[0113] Hardware for implementing the various illustrative logics, logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of receiver smart objects, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Alternatively, some operations or methods may be performed by circuits specific to a given function.

[0114] In one or more embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium. The operation of the method or algorithm disclosed herein may be embodied in a processor-executable software module or processor-executable instruction, which may reside on a non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage medium. A non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage medium may be any storage medium accessible by a computer or processor. By way of example and not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage device, disk storage device or other magnetic storage smart object, or any other medium that may be used to store the required program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and that may be accessed by a computer. As used herein, disks and optical disks include compact disks (CDs), laser optical disks, optical optical disks, digital versatile disks (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray disks, wherein disks typically copy data magnetically, and optical disks copy data optically using lasers. The above combinations are also included within the scope of non-transitory computer-readable and processor-readable media. In addition, the operations of the method or algorithm may reside on a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium and / or computer-readable storage medium as one or any combination or set of codes and / or instructions, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.

[0115] The above description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable those skilled in the art to implement or use the claims. Various modifications to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of the claims. Therefore, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but should be given the broadest scope consistent with the following claims and the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for providing streaming service assistance in a wireless network, comprising: Sending, by a processor of an application function AF network computing device, a radio access network RAN ​​capacity request to a second network computing device in response to receiving a network assistance request of a streaming service application of a user equipment UE computing device, wherein the RAN capacity request identifies a flow associated with the UE computing device; receiving, by the processor of the AF network computing device, in response to the RAN capacity request, a RAN capacity notification indicating additional data capacity for the flow associated with the UE computing device; generating, by the processor of the AF network computing device, a network assistance message indicating the additional data capacity for the flow associated with the UE computing device based at least in part on the RAN capacity notification, wherein the network assistance message is responsive to the RAN capacity request; and The network assistance message is sent by the processor of the AF network computing device to the streaming service application.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The streaming service assistance is provided in the fifth generation 5G system 5GS network. The second network computing device is part of both a fifth generation 5G system 5GS network and a 5G radio access network RAN, wherein the RAN capacity request is sent via a direct interface between the AF network computing device and the second network computing device, wherein the RAN capacity request is a subscription request for receiving RAN capacity notifications for: i) a specific protocol data unit PDU session associated with the UE computing device, or ii) a specific quality of service QoS flow associated with the UE computing device; The RAN capacity notification for the specific PDU session or specific QoS flow is received from the second network computing device of the 5GS network via the direct interface in response to sending the RAN capacity request; and the network assistance message being generated in response to the network assistance request based at least in part on the RAN capacity notification for the particular PDU session or QoS flow; The streaming service application runs on the processor of the UE computing device; The method further comprises: A network assistance request is received by a processor of an application function AF network computing device from a streaming service application running on a processor of a user equipment UE computing device connected to a 5G radio access network RAN.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The second network computing device is part of a fifth generation 5G system 5GS network which is not part of a 5G radio access network RAN.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The RAN capacity notification is received from the second network computing device.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The second network computing device is one or more of an access and mobility management function AMF computing device that is not part of the fifth generation 5G radio access network RAN, a policy control function PCF computing device that is not part of the fifth generation 5G radio access network RAN, or a session management function SMF computing device that is not part of the fifth generation 5G radio access network RAN.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The streaming service application is an uplink streaming service application or a downlink streaming service application.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The second network computing device is one or more of a fifth generation 5G new radio base station gNodeB, an access and mobility management function AMF computing device, a policy control function PCF computing device or a session management function SMF computing device.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The network assistance request is a downlink (DL) network assistance (DNA) request from the streaming service application or an uplink (UL) network assistance (UNA) request from the streaming service application.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The network assistance request includes a request for a recommended operating bit rate prior to initiation of a streaming session.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The network assistance request comprises a request for a higher bit rate for the streaming session.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The network assistance message indicates a recommended bit rate for a streaming session based at least in part on the RAN capacity notification.

12. An application function AF network computing device, comprising: A processor configured with processor-executable instructions to: In response to receiving a network assistance request from a streaming service application of a user equipment (UE) computing device, sending a radio access network (RAN) capacity request to a second network computing device, wherein the RAN capacity request identifies a flow associated with the UE computing device; receiving, in response to the RAN capacity request, a RAN capacity notification indicating additional data capacity for the flow associated with the UE computing device; generating a network assistance message indicating the additional data capacity for the flow associated with the UE computing device based at least in part on the RAN capacity notification, wherein the network assistance message is responsive to the RAN capacity request; and The network assistance message is sent to the streaming service application.

13. The AF network computing device according to claim 12, The streaming service assistance is provided in the fifth generation 5G system 5GS network. in, The second network computing device is part of both a fifth generation 5G system 5GS network and a 5G radio access network RAN, wherein the RAN capacity request is sent via a direct interface between the AF network computing device and the second network computing device, wherein the RAN capacity request is a subscription request for receiving RAN capacity notifications for: i) a specific protocol data unit PDU session associated with the UE computing device, or ii) a specific quality of service QoS flow associated with the UE computing device; The RAN capacity notification for the specific PDU session or specific QoS flow is received from the second network computing device of the 5GS network via the direct interface in response to sending the RAN capacity request; and the network assistance message being generated in response to the network assistance request based at least in part on the RAN capacity notification for the particular PDU session or QoS flow; The streaming service application runs on the processor of the UE computing device; The processor is also configured with processor-executable instructions to: A network assistance request is received by a processor of an application function AF network computing device from a streaming service application running on a processor of a user equipment UE computing device connected to a 5G radio access network RAN.

14. The AF network computing device according to claim 12, wherein: The second network computing device is part of a fifth generation 5G system 5GS network which is not part of a 5G radio access network RAN.

15. The AF network computing device according to claim 12, wherein: The streaming service application is an uplink streaming service application or a downlink streaming service application.

16. The AF network computing device according to claim 12, wherein: The network assistance request is a downlink (DL) network assistance (DNA) request or an uplink (UL) network assistance (UNA) request.

17. The AF network computing device according to claim 12, wherein: The processor is also configured with processor-executable instructions to generate the network assistance message to indicate a recommended bit rate for a streaming session based at least in part on the RAN capacity notification.

18. A non-transitory processor-readable medium having stored thereon processor-executable instructions configured to cause a processor of an application function AF network computing device to perform the following operations, comprising: In response to receiving the network assistance request, sending a radio access network RAN ​​capacity request to a second network computing device, wherein the RAN capacity request identifies a flow associated with a user equipment UE computing device; receiving, in response to sending the RAN capacity request, a RAN capacity notification indicating additional data capacity for the flow associated with the UE computing device; generating a network assistance message indicating the additional data capacity for the flow associated with the UE computing device based at least in part on the RAN capacity notification, wherein the network assistance message is responsive to the RAN capacity request; and The network assistance message is sent to a streaming service application.

19. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 18, wherein: The stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of the AF network computing device to perform operations such that: The second network computing device is part of both a fifth generation 5G system 5GS network and a 5G radio access network RAN, wherein the RAN capacity request is sent via a direct interface between the AF network computing device and the second network computing device, wherein the RAN capacity request is a subscription request for receiving RAN capacity notifications for: i) a specific protocol data unit PDU session associated with the UE computing device, or ii) a specific quality of service QoS flow associated with the UE computing device; and The RAN capacity notification for the specific PDU session or specific QoS flow is received from the second network computing device of the 5GS network via a direct interface between the AF network computing device and the second network computing device in response to sending the RAN capacity request; and the network assistance message being generated in response to the network assistance request based at least in part on the RAN capacity notification for the particular PDU session or QoS flow; The streaming service application runs on the processor of the UE computing device; The stored processor-executable instructions are further configured to cause a processor of the AF network computing device to perform operations such that: A network assistance request is received by a processor of an application function AF network computing device from a streaming service application running on a processor of a user equipment UE computing device connected to a 5G radio access network RAN.

20. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 18, wherein: The second network computing device is part of a fifth generation 5G system 5GS network which is not part of a 5G radio access network RAN.

21. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 18, wherein: The streaming service application is an uplink streaming service application or a downlink streaming service application.

22. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 18, wherein: The network assistance request is a downlink (DL) network assistance (DNA) request or an uplink (UL) network assistance (UNA) request.

23. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 18, wherein: The network assistance message indicates a recommended bit rate for a streaming session based at least in part on the RAN capacity notification.

24. An application function AF network computing device, comprising: means for sending a radio access network (RAN) capacity request to a second network computing device in response to receiving a network assistance request from a streaming service application of a user equipment (UE) computing device, wherein the RAN capacity request identifies a flow associated with the UE computing device; means for receiving, in response to sending the RAN capacity request, a RAN capacity notification indicating additional data capacity for the flow associated with the UE computing device; means for generating a network assistance message based at least in part on the RAN capacity notification, wherein the network assistance message is responsive to the capacity request; and Means for sending the network assistance message to the streaming service application.

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